NZ Dairy Summer 2020

| 5 nz dairy SILAGE | HAY | PASTURE SPRAYING | CARTAGE | CULTIVATION REGRASSING | MAIZE | FERTILIZER SPREADING PH 0800 4 VINING Micheal 027 441 1153 For all your stacked silage requirements Don Wilson - Pukekohe 027 497 5825 - don@onroadtransport.nz Blue Vallance - Paparoa 027 480 1072 - blueandgayle@xtra.co.nz Grant Robinson - Whangarei 021 158 8386 - grant@onroadtransport.nz 09 238 4016 | RD2, Pukekohe 2677 www.onroadtransport.nz North Island Livestock Cartage Address: 760 Waikare Rd, Te Kauwhata Waikato, 3781 Ph: E: Mob: (07) 826 3135 cowpower@xtra.co.nz (027) 494 3942 Peter Ellmers Farm & Electrical LTD Over 20 years experience in all your Electrical, Milking Machinery & Water Pump needs. DAIRY PEOPLE » Fraser & Amber Carpenter P eople often ask South Auckland farmer Fraser Carpenter why he does what he does and his response is always that it’s about the people. Fraser loves the cows and admits a slight obses- sion with farm machinery – but it’s the people that keep him going. “I have a lot of true life-long friends in the dairy industry and I don’t think I could give that up. The industry is like no other that I know of – like we’re not in competition with each other. You get together and talk about things, help each and share knowledge. You’re not competing over con- tracts like you might be in the building industry for example.” Past winners of the Auckland/Hauraki Share Farmer of the Year award, Fraser and his wife Amber have been involved in the dairy industry awards for the last few years, giving back to the industry that has been good to them. On the local awards committee for the last couple of years, Fraser has been judging the dairy trainee of the year this year and loves seeing the young people coming through who are passionate and excited about what they do. Operating under the company name of Amorangi Farms Ltd, Fraser and Amber are in their second season sharemilking 550 cows on a 274-hectare effective property in Paparimu, near the Bombay Hills. “We milk off about 200 hectares that’s dead flat with good soils. The rest is rolling to steep which we use for young stock,” says Fraser. The farm encompasses 300 hectares in total with the difference being beautiful kahikatea wetland bush that the owners are progressively fencing off. The name Amorangi is Amber’s middle name and has two meanings – ‘Leader’ and ‘The Fu- ture’. Both meanings speak volumes of the young couple’s drive and motivation as farmers working together as a team to achieve their goals. Brought up a city girl in Auckland, Amber completed an Arts and Design degree, majoring in fashion, spending her career in the demanding corporate world of fashion. When the couple first went sharemilking on a much smaller property several years ago Amber was working as the merchandising manager for the ‘Cotton On’ brand, while balancing her time doing the farm’s administration work. Proud of his wife, Fraser says Amber’s off-farm Farming is ‘all about the people’ Richard Loader income has been a major help getting them to where they are now. “I’ve been very fortunate that Amber has sup- ported my career. She’s amazing with what she does for our business. “You can imagine going from 190 cows to 550 – the paperwork has got 10 times bigger and a less organised person would struggle.” In 2017 Amber and Fraser had their first child, Oliver, shortly to be joined by a wee brother or sister. “Having a young family, our biggest goal now is to set roots down and stay in one place. I grew PHOTOS: South Auckland sharemilkers Amber and Fraser Carpenter and their son Oliver. “I’ve been very fortunate that Amber has supported my career. She’s amazing with what she does for our business.” up on a dairy farm in Karaka that had been in the family for 100 years – that was our turangawae- wae. “We always had that home to go back to and Amber and I want to set something like that up for our kids. With sharemilking that’s a bit of an issue – not being our own farm – and we can’t see ourselves buying a dairy farm in the mid term. But it’s probably setting ourselves up on this farm or area for the next 15 years at least and buying a little bit of land with a house.” Fraser acknowledges that with contract farming you have to keep progressing and doing well. “You never really know where the contract is going to lead you and you always have to be at the top of your game.”